by Brenda Ford
Chapter 19 – Daniel
I wake up early, knowing that I have a lot to do this morning to make it perfect. Last night was amazing, I am so happy with the way that things went but I need to make Gemma see that it wasn’t a one off. Now, I intend to treat her like a princess forever. I might have been the cold-hearted play boy in the past, but not anymore. I am fully reformed for Gemma and I hope to let her know that I am not going anywhere. I am in this forever, for as long as she wants me, my eye won’t ever wander again, there is absolutely no danger of that.
While she still sleeps, snoring lightly, I slip out of the bed and head in to the kitchen to get some breakfast cooking. Thankfully, I have everything in already to make sure that the food in bed will make her smile. That’s all I want. I do wish that I had some flowers to give to her as well, but I suppose that might not go down too well. The debacle with the roses is still fresh in my mind and I definitely don’t want a repeat of that.
“Don’t over think it,” I warn myself. “Don’t worry about everything. Just enjoy it. She is here, this is what you wanted and you got it, so don’t wreck everything by acting like a crazy fool now.”
All of a sudden, I’m shocked from my thoughts by a pair of arms snaking around my back and grabbing on tight to me. The intense smells that are pure Gemma fill my nostrils and make me grin.
“I didn’t know that you were awake already. I wanted this to be a surprise.”
“I don’t mind that.” She spins me around and kisses me hard. “It smells delicious. Thank you.”
We get lost in the kisses for a moment, I almost forget about the food that I am cooking but thankfully I remember at the last moment just before I burn anything. I spin back and take everything off the hob.
“Take a seat, I will just get this all sorted and then we can eat. The first breakfast of ‘us.”
“I like the sound of that,” she muses as she takes a seat at my dining table. “That sounds good. It reminds me that we really are something now, aren’t we? Not just… well, whatever we were before.”
“Sex… buddies?” I laugh as I put the plates down in front of us. “Yes, I want to be more than that. I don’t know if you are ready to talk about putting labels on us but even if not, I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I am here for you for as long as you want me… unless you tell me to go again.”
“I won’t tell you to go,” she laughs. “I’m sorry that I did in the first place. I just let my insecurities get the better of me and I freaked out. I thought that it was all some kind of ploy…”
“You still thought that I was trying to take you down?” I scoff. “No way. I would never do that to you. I hope that you at least realize now I wouldn’t want to hurt you in any way. I never have and never will.”
She nods slowly, finally accepting that I wasn’t the one who leaked the sex tape online, thank goodness. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I tried to let her know that I wouldn’t do such a thing to her, I guess that it was just one of those things she needed to work out on her own once she calmed down.
“I know that now. I was just… well, you know how hard it was for me. But it doesn’t matter anymore, I don’t want to worry about the past. I am much happier to think about the future instead.” She smiles lovingly at me. “Because I think that me and you have a lot to look forward to, don’t you?”
“I do.” My face breaks out in to a smile. “And I don’t know if I have told you this yet, but I love you.”
She looks a little shell shocked for a moment before she finally recovers herself. “I… I love you too, you know. I don’t know how we are going to make it work because we’re rivals, but I’m excited to try.”
“Oh, the whole business rival’s thing.” I click my tongue a couple of times playfully. “Yes, that’s going to be a challenge to navigate, isn’t it? Competing for contracts, facing off in the office, and then coming back home to eat dinner and fool around. It’s going to be tough, isn’t it? I just don’t know how we will manage it.”
Her eyes sparkle and I can see her thinking the same as me, how sexy that it. It will be like fore play for us when we compete for jobs and that will culminate in explosive amazing sex when we get home. What could be better than that? We will find a way to make this work between us and work for us as well.
“It might be embarrassing for you when I kick your ass all the time,” she says with a shrug. “But I am willing to give it a try and see how you cope with being emasculated all the time…”
God, I love this. The back and forth is absolutely wild. It’s crazy and I don’t know what I would do without it. These flames circling between us are too much, too intense, mind blowing. I never knew that this was what I was missing with other women. I knew that I didn’t have something with them, that they weren’t right for me, but I didn’t know that it was because they weren’t arguing with me all the time, challenging me and making me feel everything that I didn’t even know I needed to feel. They weren’t Gemma and that is why it was so challenging for me to fall for them. There is something about only her that gets to me.
Once we finish eating, I circle around the table and grab Gemma in for a hug. I just know that I will always savor every second that I have her body against mine now, I will never take her for granted again because I know how empty life is without her and I wouldn’t want to go another day experiencing that again.
“What do you want to do today?” I ask her quietly. “And you are allowed to give any answer other than work because it’s time for us both to take some time off being workaholics. I can take you anywhere.”
“Actually, it’s my turn to take you somewhere, unless you have forgotten,” she scolds me. “But actually, I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay here at your place with you if that’s okay.”
My heart races with excitement. That’s a good sign if ever I have heard one. “Of course, that sounds absolutely fine. I would love a day in with you. We can have an amazing day just hanging out. We probably both need the rest anyway, don’t we? I’m sure that you have been just as busy with work as me.”
“Oh, tell me about it.” She rolls her eyes. “Hanging out with you is just what I need. Doing nothing sounds awesome. It will be all lovely and domestic, won’t it? Me and you just being.”
Of course, this leads me to thinking about what it would be like to live with Gemma, for us to skip forward a hundred steps and to actually be together in a relationship where we co habit and are even married. It isn’t a terrifying idea at all, I really like it. I would love the idea of us being together forever in that way.
I take Gemma’s hand and lead her over to the couch where we can sit and watch TV for a while. Not that I imagine we will do much watching. I don’t think that me and Gemma are going to be able to keep our hands off of one another long enough for that. I can already feel a deep stirring within me, my cock itching for attention. I’m sure that Gemma can see it as well, she has a twinkle also. All of a sudden, the day inside my home feels like the best idea ever. Even more exciting than the craziness of last night, as incredible as that was.
Thank God for last night. I am so grateful to Rebecca and everyone else for helping me, for bringing the plan to life, for making sure that I have this happy ending. I honestly don’t think that I could be here today if it wasn’t for that. I would have sadly let her slide away forever and always regretted it. I never would have been able to forgive myself for losing out on the best woman that I have ever met.
It isn’t long before me and Gemma stop watching what is on the TV, just as I predicted, which is fine because I could hardly concentrate with her incredible body in my arms anyway, and we begin kissing once more like there is no tomorrow. It’s always a bit like that, when we start hooking up, as if it’s going to be the last time ever but I am happy to know that isn’t the case this time, that we will definitely get to be together again.
“Wait.” I pull back for just a second to stare at her. “Does this mean you
are officially my girlfriend now?”
“Of course, it does.” She rolls her eyes, exasperated, and pulls me back down to kiss her. “Are you a fool? We love one another and we are pretty much planning on making this work forever. Of course, that makes me your girlfriend.” Her lips set me alight. “Honestly, Daniel, do you even need to ask?”
But as our clothes begin to shed and our bodies connect in the way that I love best, I’m glad that I did ask. It feels good to have that label, to know where we stand at long last. I have claimed a piece of Gemma now and she owns me as well and I adore that. It makes me feel even closer to her than I thought possible. Our bond is tightening around us, fixing us together with every single thrust, which leaves me happy and hopeful for the future. I just know that our love is going to grow and expand every single day.
She rolls on top of me, knocking us on to the floor, but somehow that only makes it more phenomenal. I shift up in to a sitting position and cling to her on my lap as the thrusts get deeper and more passionate, as the intensity takes us both. We are equally primal, just as animalistic as each other, just as wild. The grunts coming out of me match the loud moans emanating from Gemma and it isn’t long before I am soaring higher than air, tumbling in to the abyss of pleasure, and enjoying every single second of it. This woman… oh my God, this woman… she is absolutely incredible, I am just lucky that she chose to give me one last chance.
“I love you,” I gasp as we both come hard and fast together. “I love you so much.”
She repeats the same thing to me over and over again, reminding me that at long last we are on the same page. It has taken us a long time to get there but finally we are making this work. We are here together, loving one another, and vowing to live a happy ever after in each other’s arms.
Chapter 20 – Gemma
One Year Later…
“Are we really going to do this?” Daniel challenges me. “You aren’t going to back out at the last moment, are you? I don’t want to get down the end of that aisle just to have you running away from me…”
I glance up at the Las Vegas chapel with a cheeky smile spreading across my face. Trust us to end up in this situation. Only me and Daniel could turn a fun vacation in to a marriage-based challenge. Only he could make a proposal in to a back and forth of wills, and I have to admit that I freaking love it. It’s so typical of our relationship. Because of our business rivalry, banter and competitiveness is a big part of us, but it never ruins us. We always manage to have fun with it which I love… and this is just the perfect way for us to get hitched.
No big romantic gestures, we have done all of that thank you very much, no big ‘will you marry me’ speech, just a challenge and a determination for neither of us to back down. It’s fabulous.
“Oh, I’m not letting you win this one.” I set my mouth in a line and shake my head hard. “I am doing this.”
“Right. Because once I go inside…” He points towards the chapel. “I will be expecting you to join me.”
“Even if I am in a little red dress rather than a big white gown.” I wiggle my hips playfully. “I hope you’re okay with that. I know that I don’t look like your typical bride.”
“I’m not your typical groom either so you aren’t going to make me back down like that.”
“Fine. Go inside.” I nod towards the building. “I will meet you in there in a moment. Then by the time we come out, we will be married. Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. Can you handle that, play boy?”
With a nod, I watch Daniel stalk away from me and inside the building with the marriage license ready and clutched between his fingers to hand in. This could be seen as a joke gone a little too far, as a challenge that is about to erupt in our faces in the worst way possible, but after a year of us being together and the way that we only get stronger every single day, I just know that this is going to be awesome.
Our Vegas trip turned in to a wedding and a honey moon all rolled in to one. People won’t be able to believe it… or perhaps they will since this is the sort of thing that we would do I suppose.
“Well, this is it,” I whisper to myself with a laugh. “Time to get married.”
For a moment, I think about when I first came across Daniel in the business world, back when I hated him. When I saw him flirting with women all the time and I assumed that he was a play boy with no soul. Then I remember the forced date that Paige made us go on all for pictures… the date that rapidly turned in to sex. Sex that became a regular thing and eventually a relationship. Of course, it wasn’t as smooth a path as that. There were definite hiccups along the way, but I don’t focus on the bad parts anymore. I don’t worry about the shitty things that happened to us along the way because they aren’t relevant. They mean nothing compared to the intense and wonderful happiness that we share right now. It was all just hurdles. I also have learned that if we can overcome a major hurdle like that so early in our relationship, then we can tackle anything together.
Once I feel like I might have made Daniel sweat enough, I finally make my way inside of the chapel to greet him. He stands dutifully at the end of the aisle, waiting patiently for me. As I smile at him, I can see that all of the competition has gone out of his eyes now. That might have been what brought us here, but it isn’t what is getting us down the aisle. It’s our love bringing us together in the end which is perfect.
The music starts. It’s much cheesier than what would be in a church if we were having a big white wedding surrounded by lots of people, but then that would never be us. That would feel weird and more like we were doing it for other people rather than just us. This feels wonderful, it’s perfect and so intimate.
I walk in time with the music, pausing only once to stick my tongue out as my husband to be which causes him to burst out laughing. Luckily, since this is Las Vegas, the officiant isn’t bothered about us teasing one another. He is causal and willing to let us do what we want. It’s brilliant.
“Looking good,” Daniel declares as soon as I am close enough to hold his hands. “I must be one hell of a lucky man to have you in front of me, willing to be my wife.”
And then he does something very unexpected. He digs his hands in to his pocket and pulls out two beautiful wedding rings. One for him and one for me. I gasp with surprise as it becomes obvious that this must have been planned. He knew that he was going to get me to marry him in Las Vegas and of course I went along with it. Why wouldn’t I when he presented it as a challenge? I almost laugh at the craziness of it all.
“You really are something else, Daniel.” I shake my head, bemused. “What will I do with you?”
But of course, I continue to hold his hands happily and smile as the officiant starts up with wedding words that sound vaguely traditional to me. Enough so it starts to make an excited tingle spread all the way through my body. This isn’t just a game now, this is real life, this is it. I am about to become Mrs. Wilson at long last and I am incredibly excited about that. Finally, the world we know that we are intertwined forever.
I hold Daniel’s hands tighter to try and convey just how overcome with emotion I am which is the moment I start to spot a tear prick in the corner of his eye. Wow, he is so overwhelmed that he’s actually crying. That really is something, isn’t it? He might even be bringing a tear to my eye as well.
“I believe that you have written your own vows?”
It isn’t until those words are spoken that I am dragged back in to the present moment with a thump. Of course, Daniel is okay with this because he has it all planned. I’m sure he has written some kind of speech for me. Has he even thought that this is really putting me on the spot here and I might not know what to say? I guess I am just going to have to top his words while speaking from the heart. Challenge accepted.
“Gemma Dove, you have always been a pain in my ass…” As soon as he says that, relief floods through me. Thank goodness, more teasing. Nothing serious for me to worry about. “You have stomped all over my business and made life very difficult for me. I
would honestly be a million times more successful if it wasn’t for you. But somehow, despite being a constant nightmare to me, I haven’t been able to stop myself from falling head over heels in love with you. Somehow, you have climbed under my skin and set up camp there and I don’t hate it. This wedding is the best thing to ever happen to me and I look forward to competing with you and annoying you forever, because once you are Mrs. Wilson there won’t be any escaping me.”
It might not sound like flowery words of love to anyone else, but I get exactly what Daniel means. This is our way of having banter and fun with one another and it feels incredibly special to us. I wouldn’t change it for the world. It just shows that we get one another in a way that no one else ever would.
“Daniel Wilson, who is about to become Dove by the way, I think that you should take my name…” He giggles but doesn’t disagree with me. I guess that is a conversation for later on even though my surname wouldn’t suit him at all I’m sure. “You talk about me being a nightmare, but you are the one who I can’t seem to shake however hard I try. In business and in life as well. You are always there, trying to step on my toes and get to the same level as me but you can never quite manage it because I am the best of the best. Yet here I am allowing you to marry me as well. I must be absolutely insane, honestly, but at least we will go mad together.”
“Too true!” Daniel howls with laughter. “We will drive one another mad. I can’t wait.”
“Right, so I guess what I’m trying to say is that I love you really and I’m looking forward to being your wife, to living out our happy ever after together. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun.”
“I love you too. Very much, Gemma. You are the love of my life.” He smiles lovingly at me, his eyes wide as if he’s trying not to weep some more. “I never have fun with anyone like I do you. You are something else. Something special and I’m so over joyed that I can have every day of my life with you from now on.”
